Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

Gennaro · 2003-04-25 10:43:45

Great idea, but I can only speak for myself. People at forums like these are probably not very representative of the majority.

Tricky moving about in the centrifuge area, though.

Cobra Commander · 2003-04-25 18:41:15

Despite the financial, enviromental and legal obstacles to this, I like it! I don't see much hope for actually pulling it off, but I'd certainly be willing to drop some currency into it if it were to be attempted. Of course, If it was actually built, I'd be the first one calling for a launch despite the obvious problems. To build it and not use it just seems like such a waste. But PR has its place, I suppose...

Explorer · 2003-04-25 20:09:00

I'll be the curator and live in it. Since there won't be any nukes laying around we'll power up the airconditioner, fridge, and other creature comforts with renewables like solar and wind and grow food in it's vicinity. We'll make it completely self-sufficient and environmentally friendly the way a starship should be. Any curator caught visiting the grocery store will be fired and replaced. And I don't know why a government would necessarily oppose it since you couldn't get bombs for it anyway.

TJohn · 2003-04-28 11:47:08

I voted "pay for a guided tour" although I do think that the government would try and stop your efforts. Too bad that we can't convince Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to help!

malfunkshun · 2003-05-01 15:27:25

Interesting idea, but if you're going to build a space theme park, it definitely needs to be based on something a lot more interesting to the public eye than Orion. Sure, WE all love the Orion concept and we'd all love to see it come to fruition, but come ON, this thing would never get financed as a theme park. You're talking about building a fully functional starship (in theory) but using it as a tourist attraction. Your enthusiasm for Orion is heartening, but sorry... this just isn't interesting in the long run to the average money spender. Its like selling tickets to tour an aircraft carrier or submarine. It would be a better idea to design a space theme park that would actually attract visitors, then use the profits from THAT to build a REAL Orion that you can actually launch.

el scorcho · 2003-05-01 17:03:18

Its like selling tickets to tour an aircraft carrier or submarine. It would be a better idea to design a space theme park that would actually attract visitors, then use the profits from THAT to build a REAL Orion that you can actually launch.

Hmm...true in many ways. However, have you ever paid a visit to an aircraft carrier, submarine, or battleship? I have visited the World War II-era USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC on numerous occasions. Go there on any given summer day and you will see the deck of the ship bustling with activity. Tourists are everywhere. I'd be willing to bet that that ship alone brings in ungodly amounts of money (several million at least) in one summer alone.

How about Fort Sumter? Appomattox, VA? The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington? I'm sure they all turn out a pretty penny as well.

If an Orion were built and designed to play on people's fascination with outer space (I mean designing it to look like something out of Star Wars...sleek-looking and futuristic as possible) I believe this would fascinate the masses enough to make a sizeable profit. Certainly it would renew the public interest in space pioneering.

soph · 2003-05-01 19:40:58

Movies like Titanic are a big hit because they are based on true stories with as much factual data added as possible. If you build an anti-matter warp engine star trek vehicle it will be nothing more than a shell. A fraud, and the public will know it. Give them a real starship and they will be fascinated.

There's a reason people like movies like Star Wars more than Titanic. Titanic and Pearl Harbor-these are shells of fact, with crap thrown in, not vice versa. There is very little fact. The fluff is what sells movies that are supposedely historical fiction.

I think Jon Stewart said it best last night, people are willing to spend up to, and including $0 to see reality television, but beyond that, they won't pay.

An authentic Orion starship would be unique. Guided tours quite an experience I imagine. You could get totally lost in the engine rooms alone. Peoples eyes would be popping out of their heads as the scale of it overwhelmed their senses. Unlike the flimsy gossamer things made by NASA this could house hundreds of people.

There's nothing wrong with adding a sleek look. It wouldn't have to damage the integrity or quality of the ship in the least. People don't want to see a cold, dead ship.

You need money to build anything. I personally wouldn't invest in a space theme park. Sounds like a money pit. Any bank you approached would tell you to try something along the lines of Disney World instead

I don't know about that. The Smithsonian succeeds, the Intrepid Museum succeeds, and many other non-Disney parks succeed. This is simply inaccurate.

prometheusunbound · 2003-07-18 16:57:27

to what degree will it be functuional? Will it be able to lift off in a day or so after recieving the proper bombs for it?

It sounds very interesting, is there a way I could get involved?

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#1 2003-04-25 10:43:45

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

#2 2003-04-25 18:41:15

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

#3 2003-04-25 20:09:00

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

#4 2003-04-28 11:47:08

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

#5 2003-05-01 15:27:25

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

#6 2003-05-01 17:03:18

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

#7 2003-05-01 19:40:58

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

#8 2003-07-18 16:57:27

Re: Orion Starship Exhibit - publicly funded tourist attraction.

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